Student Interns for Hands-on Tech Experience

What is the IT job market going to look like in three years? With the advances in technology, especially Artificial Intelligence, it’s difficult to know, which is especially challenging for students working towards their degrees.

Luckily, researchers at the University of Arizona are engaged in numerous important projects, from machine learning to quantum computing to health sciences and health sciences engineering. Aziz Mubarak is a junior working towards his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at the College of Science. He is also working as an intern at the Digital Health Technologies and Sensors Core (DHTS, formally SensorLab) that assists researchers in integrating wearable sensors and digital health tools into their clinical studies.

Aziz is the second generation in his family working with technology, and started off building hardware. He discovered how inexpensive it was to buy components and set up computers himself, and sold them to his friends. He also founded a club in high school, The PC Hardware club, to foster a new community interested in how computers work.

Working with Sensors

DHTS manages numerous wearable devices to track vital signs on clinical study participants. Researchers wanting to track data on these participants can check out devices from the lab to use for their studies. These include smart watches, rings, smart shirts, balance plates, EEG (Electroencephalogram)headsets for measuring electrical activity in the brain, and several more remote monitoring and digital health devices. Aziz works alongside a biomedical engineering intern and lab staff. DHTS’ goal is to assist researchers—professors and grad students—identify the correct remote monitoring tool for their studies, support device integration, and offer analytical services for sensor data.

One popular smartwatch device model was recently discontinued by the manufacturer. While their newer models work well, the lab still had a large batch of the older models sitting on the shelf that they could no longer get data from. Aziz worked with his team on developing an in-house dashboard to transmit the sensor data in real-time from these discontinued devices, allowing researchers to continue using these devices for their studies. He’s using Python to collect the data over Bluetooth and JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) to package it for display in a web app.

Aziz’s manager, Shravan Aras, faculty at MEZCOPH and Associate Director of Sensor Analysis & Smart Health Platforms at the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics, is also available to support him.

Many developers are using AI to automate coding, but wearable device manufacturers do not use open-source resources or share code. There is nothing for AI to build from. While the coding was not Aziz’s favorite part of the project, he still found the project fun. He said, “It's always nice, working on a project, spending so much time on it, doing research. Seeing the final product makes it all worth it.”

The lab is next setting up an Nvidia GPUs for machine learning and then deciding on their next research projects. Aziz would like to explore automated powering up and powering down in a lab based on biometric sensing of who is present and what activities are taking place. “The system would know that we need the AC on, we need this computer on, and these lights on. And then once it reaches 5:00 p.m. that's usually when everyone leaves so let's shut everything off.”

After Aziz graduates in fall 2027, he is planning to move on to pursue a master's in AI. At this point, Aziz is unsure what his career trajectory will be after his BS and MS. One thing that he sure of, though, is his desire to use technology to make a positive impact.

He notes that advancements are happening very fast in technology. In the meantime, he is very much enjoying his internship experience. “There's a lot of interesting stuff going on in the lab—stuff with real world potential, which makes it even more interesting. I'm hoping to be a part of that spark.”